Tennis-racket



P. A. VAILE.

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APPLC ED DEC. 7.1915- 1 ,364,331 Patented Jan. 4, 1921.' Ey# r XW y IN1/Enron Pand/202464 Vzz'e IPEMBROKE A. VAILE, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.

TENNIS-RACKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. a, 1921.

Application le. December 7, 1916. Serial No. 135,542.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PnMBRoKn A. VAILE, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and Improved Tennis-Rackets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Among the principal objects which the present invention has in view are: to enable the game of tennis to be played within restricted bounds; to train players of the usual game of tennis in the art of volleying employed therein; and to avoid rebounding of the ball.

Drawings.

Figure 1 is a face view of a tennis racket constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side edge view on an enlarged scale, showing a racket of the character mentioned and a ball used in conjunction therewith, both constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention.

Description.

As shown in the drawing, the racket frame 8 is inwardly beveled at the outer end or head to form the shelving surfaces 9. The frame is suitably perforated to receive the lacings 10 of the net 11. The net 11 is provided with an open mesh, the cross members whereof are twisted to form knots 12. The knots 12 are made intentionally large to form a friction surface for engaging a ball 13.

As seen best in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the net 11 is slack to sag at the center of the frame 8, thereby forming a shallow pocket for catching the ball when playing a game therewith.

y Theracket handle 14 and framing members thereof are constructed and arranged in accordance with the conventional tennis racket.

When playing the game for which the herein-described racket is intended, a court divided by a net is provided, constructed and arranged very much as in the usual manner of tennis where a lively tennis racket and bounding ball are employed.

A prominent difference between the ordinary game of tennis and that employing the racket herein shown and described, resides in the fact that whereas the ball in the ordinary tennis game rebounds from the ground or iioor of the court and is played on the rebound, in the present game the ball being dead would not rebound, therefore, it must be returned in flight or volleyed.

To further deaden or eliminate the tendency to bound of the ball, the net l1 is sagged at the center of the frame 8. Incidental to the sag of the net 11, a pocket is formed for catching the ball used, so that the saine may be tossed or emitted from the racket by a sudden or jerky movement of the wrist or arm of the player.

As indicated in the description of the construction above, the knots 12 formed in the net 11 facilitate the rotating of the ball by a stroke known as cutting the ball. The rotation thus imparted to the ball operates as in the ordinary tennis ball, to curve the said ball in its flight. i

Thus it will be seen that while playing the game of tennis with a relatively dead ball and dead racket, the various strokes used in volleying are employed, and it is also obvious that due to the fact that the ball will not rebound, the action of the players is very much increased or augmented.

The game of tennis played with the racket herein described may be practised in a gymnasium, the hallway of the usual house, or on board ship, without the danger which Would be attendent upon the use of a soopen portion thereof, said net comprising called lively racket and ball. a plurality of strands crossing each other 10 @mim to form a mesh, and knots formed in one of said strands and tied about the adjacent 5 A racket comprising an open frame strand at their points of crossing througgghformed of a single piece of material, a, hanout the mesh. olle for said frame, and a loosely formed net carried by the frame and lying Within the PEMBROKE A. VAILE. 

